Rep. Sam Farr teams with Santa Cruz nutritionist on health challenge

SANTA CRUZ &GT;&GT; For U.S. Rep. Sam Farr, Monday was unlike any other Monday.

It was the first day of the Sam Farr Challenge, a 30-day initiative in healthy living dreamed up by Santa Cruz nutrition educator Mary Toscano.

The challenge has three simple rules:

• No alcohol after 7:30 p.m.

• No more than one serving of bread or pasta per day.

• 7,000 steps or 30 minutes exercise per day, as recommended by James Hill of the Anschultz Health and Wellness Center at the University of Colorado.

Farr unveiled the challenge Friday, posting an invitation on his Facebook page for people to join him, and 70 signed up.

"Can't wait to see the results," posted Cristina Garcia, a member of Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers-San Francisco Bay Area.

But Jean Richards was doubtful.

"My body is balking at the idea that it could survive on one serving of pasta per day," she posted. "Maybe the exercise can convince it. Challenges are good motivators."

By mid-day Monday, the number topped 170, and Toscano welcomes more.

As Farr got on a flight to Washington, D.C., his spokesman Adam Russell wasn't sure if his boss planned to bring his own meal or go with airplane fare and modify.

The Carmel Democrat, 73, who was first elected to Congress in 1993, often walks in the morning with Rep. Earl Blumenauer, 65, a Democrat from Oregon.

"That is where he will get most of his steps," Russell said. "Plus we run him around the Capitol complex all day long with meetings so he will get lots of steps in that way. Add in some trips back and forth to the floor for votes and he should be able to hit 7,000."

But Mother Nature was uncooperative, showering rain on the Capitol.

"It might be hard to do today," Farr said by cell phone.

Still, he was enthusiastic about the challenge as a response to overweight, which he called "a major crisis" for America.

"We all talk about it," he said. "It's time to walk the walk."

Toscano, author of "Sweet Fire: Sugar Diabetes & Your Health," said her visit with Farr on behalf of the American Diabetes Association was eye-opening.

"I had never been to Capitol Hill," she said. "I don't how anybody stays healthy down there. It's a very high-stress environment. Their time is not their own. He is pulled in 50 different directions."

When Farr asked her how to keep weight off, she didn't have an answer. Thinking it over, she came up with the challenge. Farr accepted.

Her first career was in engineering at Santa Cruz Operation and Advanced Micro Devices.

"Congress reminded me of my life in the corporate world," she said.

She left that world 14 years ago to raise her daughter and began to focus on her health, approaching it like an engineering problem.

She became certified as a nutrition educator, started her consulting business, and created her YouTube channel, Healthy Living ABCs, with help from photographer Janelle Evans.

One video explains why flour is the biggest source of sugar in the American diet. Another shows how to save time cooking healthy food. A third shows how much sugar is in a bagel.

While Toscano was writing the book, she discovered she was pre-diabetic due to her genes.

"I got handed down a pancreas that doesn't work well," she said.

What's wrong with a late-night snack? Toscano writes that studies found eating before bed inhibits release of growth hormone, which is key to avoiding weight gain. Her research tells her diabetes and obesity are preventable once people have information about food they can understand.

SAM FARR CHALLENGE

WHAT: 30-day initiative created by Mary Toscano with three rules for healthier living.